Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A grid, usually of parallel metal bars, set at ground level in a road or gateway as a barrier to cattle while allowing the passage of vehicles and pedestrians.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A device to prevent cattle from straying along a railroad-track at a highway-crossing.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a bridge over a ditch consisting of parallel metal bars that allow pedestrians and vehicles to pass, but not cattle
Etymologies
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Examples
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She swung the truck off the highway and angled it between the pale green signs to rattle over the cattle guard.
The Man From High Mountain David, Kay 1999
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The ride to the ranch took well over an hour, and Doug had to shake him awake as they bounced over the cattle guard.
So Hard To Forget Crowe, Evelyn A 1997
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When Joanna and Jenny arrived at the turnoff to the ranch, Clayton's rattletrap Ford pickup was just clattering over the cattle guard.
Tombstone Courage Jance, Judith A. 1994
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I were at your farm, I may have built a little bridge for Daisy over the cattle guard. texasphotochick said:
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Turned off by the airport, took Mormon Mesa Rd. across, then turned left onto, uh, Double Negative Way, just before the cattle guard.
ruzuzu commented on the word cattle guard
"The immediate progenitor of the automotive cattle guard is the railroad cattle guard, an American innovation dating back at least to 1836. The ultimate progenitor of the cattle guard is the flat stone stile of Cornwall, England, where grids of granite bars placed over pits in public footpaths have been in existence for more than 2,000 years.
. . . The term 'cattle guard' is generally used in the Southern Plains, while from Nebraska north the terms 'auto gate' or 'car gate' are common. In the Prairie Provinces, a cattle guard usually refers to the railroad variety, while those on highways are called 'Texas gates.'"
- From the Encyclopedia of the Great Plains
July 16, 2010